PAGE 14 THE DALLAS POST Sunday, August 29, 2010 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Emily Deome, left, and Abbie Fallon feed one of 12 orphaned piglets in the coach barn at The Lands at Hillside Farm. The piglets were orphaned at birth and will require feedings every hour for eight weeks. The piglets have numbers on their backs so staff and volunteers can keep track of them. PIGLETS Continued from Page 1 hemorrhaged after giving birth to such a large litter. Thirteen pigs were actually born to the mother, but one was stillborn. “An average litter is eight or nine pigs,” said Chuck Deome, farm manager at Hillside. When Fallon, of Laurel Run, heard the piglets had lost their mom the day after they were born, she stepped in to take care of the little ones. Fallon has taken the pigs home every night since and has lost quite a few hours of sleep. Her younger sister Molly helps her at times, but Fallon likes the responsibility of being a “mom.” “They’re babies and they need a mother,” said Fallon. “They needed love.” She also takes care of two other pigs, Babe and Olivia, three- week-old runts of another litter who were rejected by their moth- er and require feedings every two and ahalf hours. _ . “(I sleep) in between the feed- ings,” she said. The community is volunteer- ing to help the piglets as well. De- ome says the public response has been “overwhelming” since the “They're babies and they need a mother. They needed love.” Abbie Fallon About 12 orphaned piglets farm has publicized its need for feeders. Staff at the farm posted a message on Facebook and, with- in five days, they have had nearly 100 volunteers to feed the baby pigs. “I answer 15 to 20 e-mails a day,” said Suzanne Kelly, Direc- tor of Advancement at Hillside. Once the piglets turn two weeks old, Hillside staff will al- low volunteers to take them home at night for their hourly feedings. Deome, of Shavertown, says it will definitely take the bur- den off of Fallon, whose 14 “ba- bies” don’t give her much of a chance to do anything else. Fallon says the piglets sleep until their next feeding which gives her about two hours to sleep. She doesn’t need an alarm clock to know when to feed them, either. “If you push it to three hours, they know it and they start to squeal,” she said. And Fallon’s parents don’t even mind the periodical interrup- tions. “My dad just rolls his eyes,” she said. “My mother taught us never to turn anything (away).” Deome’s 11-year-old daughter, Emily, also enjoys feeding the pigs. Her favorite, “Number 10,” is frisky, but seems to melt when in the young girl’s arms. The pigs are numbered to keep track of feedings and Emily hasn't yet picked a pet name for her favorite piglet. Emily’s got quite a bit of expe- rience with animals. She says she’s got two horses, a few cows, a couple calves, four cats, two dogs and a pack of goats at home. “But I want a pig,” she said. “T'll sneak him into my room. He can sleep with me.” Even though the piglets are ti- ny, they won’t stay that way for very long. Deome says pigs can grow to be 300 to 400 pounds and it’s inevitable that some of the pink pigs will be sold for less than appetizing purposes. “It’s a part of life. We don’t dis- cuss it, but it’s the reality,” said Deome. “While theyre here, their quality of life is great.” school. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Edward Guist, of Shavertown, with his mother Stacey behind him, searches the halls of Lake- Lehman Junior/Senior High School for his classrooms during a freshman orientation at the SCHOOL Continued from Page 3 Hennebaul’s father, also named Charles. “It was so small com- pared to this.” Many students walked aim- lessly through the halls with their parents, clutching a map of the school and comparing doors with directions. Tara Sears, ju- nior high guidance counselor, said worries about classroom confusion are typical during the first week of school. “Students aren’t always sure who to ask for help during the first week,” she said. “I teach seventh-grade as well, so I see them after the first week and a half.” Sears says students should take time to learn their new sur- roundings and try to calm their nerves. Fourteen-year-old Kaitlyn Evans agrees. The soon-to-be eighth grader from Lehman is anxious to get back to class and see all her friends after the long summer break. “I was nervous at first,” she said of her transition from ele- mentary student to high school scholar but grew to enjoy the high school experience and sug- i Micayla Grey, of Dallas, talks about her locker decorations dur- ing an orientation program at Lake-Lehman Junior /Senior High School. gests new students do the same. “Don’t be nervous about it,” she advised. “Just stay focused and pay attention.” Micayla Grey, 13, a budding artist from Dallas, understands the plight of the seventh-grad- ers, too. The second-year junior high student, whose locker is decorated with glittery foam tiles and cut-out letters, had a tough time with combinations and schedules but eventually ad- justed. “It’s not as bad as you think it is,” she said. DRILLING Continued from Page 1 what’s happening in the Back Mountain area and elsewhere in Pennsylvania. His primary concerns are “the water, the air and the long-term ef- fects” of gas drilling and his activ- ism within several local organiza- tions is a personal plea to the pub- lic about the process. “What’s going to be here 50 years from now or 20 years from now when everything starts to rust and rot?” he asked. Gas Stock featured music by George Wesley, the Mike Mizwin- ski Band, the Don Shapelle Band, the Gunrunners, Play Action Fake and several other bands. Musi- cians wrote songs for the occasion about hydraulic fracking and the effects of drilling and played on the stage at the Luzerne County Fair Grounds and on a soap box stage within the site’s pavilion. Attendants were able to air con- cerns about drilling on the soap box and the pavilion housed a ma- gician and story tellers. Vendors and informational ta- bles, from food carts to the North- eastern Pennsylvania chapter of the Sierra Club, lined the grounds. “We're trying to raise aware- ness of the problem, but my group, The Sierra Club (which served as a sponsor for Gas Stock) is asking for a moratorium,” said Frank Muraca, conservation chairman of the local club. Muraca was involved in block- ing the lease of Moon Lake Park in Plymouth Township and his group aims to protect state parks and game lands from being sold to drilling companies. “I personally don’t believe it (drilling) can be done safely,” he said. For Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition (GDAC) member Mary Rodriguez, rallying against gas drilling wasn’t difficult. The Dal- las Township resident has a list of > Re a State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, left, talks with Barbara Zeshon- ski, of Waverly, at the Gas Stock Environmental Rally. personal reasons why she’s be- come so involved, from her pro- fession as a nurse to the future of her granddaughter. “My grandparents’ view was that they educated me so I know whento speak up,” she said. “This is a time to speak up.” Rodriguez got involved with the group when she saw fracking signs on someone’s lawn and real- ized she didn’t know what the termmeant. After doing research, she returned to the lawn sign to get the GDAC’s website. She says her group’s purpose is to spread information as well as provide a more “holistic view” of the effects of gas drilling. “We have no animosity for the people who have leased their land,” she said. “We want them to realize what they've done and that the industry needs to be regulat- ed.” Karen and Paul Rowker, of Tunkhannock, watched musi- cians from the bleachers at the fairgrounds. “We just want to learn about what could possibly happen,” said Karen. Paul, a supervisor in Eaton Township, aims to learn every- thing about gas drilling before it hits home. He said the township currently has no wells or permits for drilling, but there is the poten- tial for a frack water treatment plant. “I want to make sure I learn as much as I can so I can do the right thing for the residents,” he said. “(There are) no formal applica- tions for drilling, but they’re com- ing.” The festival also brought activ- ist groups together. Roxanne Pau- line, a member of the Northeast Pennsylvania Citizens in Action Group, another sponsor of the event, knows that smaller, com- munity-based groups can only do so much. “We want to try to get a (coali- tion) of people,” said the Taylor resident. “Right now there (are) 15, 18 little groups all working within their own areas and that re- aches a plateau.” Pauline hopes to hold a meet- ing in September for the organiza- tions that attended the festival to form more cohesion among the groups so they can take actions such as rewriting legislation or pushing for a moratorium. Members of awareness groups from New York and Pittsburgh were also in attendance at the event. “Drilling is here,” said Pauline. “It’s not something that’s going to go away so we have to find a way for it to make sense for everybo- dy.” BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Frank Muraca of the Northeast Group, Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club, right, talks with Diane, left, Mark, and Sarabeth Taber-Miller, of Blakeslee, at the Gas Stock Environmental Rally. > J al ¢« No TV on Site Building ¥ Learning Center CT here Learmiing Is A Fun Pert OF Growing Upl® EIROLLING FOR THE NEY SCLICOL Infants, Toddlers, Preschool, Pre-Kindergarten, School Age Programs. : Transportation to Dallas Elementary, Wycalis Elementary, and Gate of Heaven Schools, Lehman Jackson Elementary & Lake Noxen Elementary in the Lake Lehman School District. « Hands on Learning Environment + Keystone Stars Accredited « Curriculum aligned with the PA Early Learning Standards Ev « Unique classroom design « Strengthening Social/Emotional & Academic Skills * Flexible schedule accommodations + Full time and part time enroliments Open: 6:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Monday - Friday Conveniently Located in the Twin Stacks Center 1168 Memorial Hwy, Dallas PA 18612 www.BuildingBlocksLearningCenter.com Call Miss Allison at our Admissions Office at
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